OVER THE RAINBOW

With improved media visibility and Pride events over the years, has the music industry in Asia finally become safer and more inclusive for the LGBTQ+ community?

- Zabrina Lo

It's been 20 years since Leslie Cheung, one of the first Cantopop stars in Hong Kong to open up about his sexuality, jumped to his death from a balcony at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. He left a note saying that he was suffering from depression. Life hadn't been easy for the queer singer, who openly admitted to his bisexuality and relationship with Daffy Tong at a time when Hong Kong was still very conservative about non-heteronormativity.

Two decades on, the city's love for him hasn't faded. His death date this year was honoured by an exhibition, the broadcasting of his films, concerts and television shows, and a tribute concert by Canto-pop star Janice Vidal. Cheung's sexual orientation and flamboyant public persona, which were considered controversial back then, are now celebrated by the city: his gender-fluid looks, such as the skirts and red high heels he wore in what would prove to be some of his last concerts; his queer film roles, including in the 1997 Wong Kar-wai drama Happy Together and Chen Kaige's 1993 film Farewell, My Concubine; and his song Chase for the gender-bending 1994 film He's a Woman, She's a Man. Plus, of course, he was a hugely successful singer.

While his achievements in the film and television industry may have played a large part in the acceptance of Asian films with LGBTQ+ characters and topics-take, for example, the hugely popular Hong Kong drama series Ossan's Love (2021), or Your Name Engraved Herein, the most popular Taiwanese film of 2020-a similar impact has not been evident in the music world.